Precision Ag
Crop Alert
Mike Stanyard, Team Leader and Field Crops & IPM Specialist
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Timely observations, information, and control strategies for managing pests, fertility, and current conditions on northwestern NY farms.
Benefits and Costs of Entry Level Precision Agriculture Technologies
John Hanchar, Farm Business Management Specialist
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Auto Section Control (ASC) is a precision agriculture technology designed to reduce double planting and other crop input usage in headlands. See the presentation by Erick Haas and John Hanchar at the 2017 Operations Managers Conference for benefits and costs, including results from partial budgeting and capital investment analysis.
Entry Point Precision Ag Technology: Benefits & Costs for Decision Making
John Hanchar, Farm Business Management Specialist
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Two benefits attributed to auto steer mentioned frequently by producers and their advisors are reduced stress and reduced fatigue. Combine these benefits with expected favorable economic and financial impacts, and auto steer has the potential to be a beneficial change in practice for farmers, one that farmers will likely want to evaluate for their business.
Precision Agriculture Adoption and Trends in Western New York
Mike Stanyard, Team Leader and Field Crops & IPM Specialist
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Survey and report by Kevin Kreher (kmk279@cornell.edu)
This work was commissioned by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County and the NWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team to determine how many growers are using technology, gauge how it is working for them, and discover how Cornell Cooperative Extension might help farmers working with these technologies. More than 60 people were interviewed for this report, encompassing the perspectives of growers, consultants, industry experts, dealers, and equipment manufacturers. The growers portion of this survey represented almost 140 thousand acres of cropland in the region.
Crop Cam
Mike Stanyard, Team Leader and Field Crops & IPM Specialist
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Tune in as the NWNY Teams' Extension agronomists put on their GoPro cameras and head to the field.
Varying Corn & Soybean Populations, Varieties, & Down Force
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Considering varying your corn or soybean populations? Curious about multiple hybrid planters and planting two corn or soybean varieties in the same field? Maybe you're trying to decide between a planter with hydraulic or air bag down force pressure? If so check out this AgFocus Newsletter article from April of 2015.
Proposed FAA Drone Rules Released
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

On Sunday February 15th, 2015 the FAA released it's proposed rules for commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly called drones, for public comment for 60 days. A summary can be found in the PDF below.
FAQs about Farm Drones
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Have a question about using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) on your farm? Not sure what is and isn't legal for drone use on your land? Check out this PDF for more information.
New Technology for Corn Nitrogen Needs
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Farmers and agronomists are constantly looking for better tools to improve crop production, and corn nitrogen is no exception. In an effort to account for the spatial variability within every field and the temporal variability of nitrogen due to weather farmers are beginning to use two new tools, GreenSeeker and Adapt-N, on a small scale in northwestern NY. While these tools have great potential to improve corn nitrogen management it is important to understand what they require to work well and the situations where their use may not be warranted until more experience is gained with them. Download the PDF for the full article that appeared in the June 2014 Ag Focus Newsletter.
Variable Rate Fertility Management
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

An expanded version of the February 2014 Ag Focus Article, Variable Rate Fertility Management.
Adapt N Training Resources
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Interested in the Adapt N tool? Check out the videos, PDFs, and manual below.
Mapping Management Zones with Soil Conductivity
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops

Interested in creating soil management zones with soil conductivity on your farm? Download this PDF.
Upcoming Events
Agritourism Workshops Monthly! - U-Pick Agritourism Operations: IN's and Out's
December 18, 2023
Are you thinking of starting an agritourism business or are you currently operating one?
Join our monthly lunch-hour, workshop virtual series and learn how to grow your agritourism business!
Each session will focus on specific topic to help aspiring agritourism entrepreneurs grow their knowledge and profit through this exciting on-farm business.
Cost: Free to attend, but registration required!
2024 Corn Congress

January 4, 2024
Henrietta, NY
Participant Registration for the 2024 Corn Congress OPEN NOW! - January 4th 2024
NOW OFFERING 3.5 DEC Recertification CREDITS
Whole Farm Efficiency Webinar Series
January 9, 2024
January 16, 2024
January 23, 2024
January 30, 2024
February 6, 2024
February 13, 2024
February 20, 2024
February 27, 2024
March 5, 2024
March 12, 2024
Registration link coming soon!
Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell PRO-DAIRY are excited to announce our Whole Farm Efficiency webinar series. This 10-week webinar series will be offered online, free of charge to participants.
It will take place Tuesdays from 12pm-1pm EST, Jan 9 through March 12, 2024.
Topics for each week include precision feeding, labor management, feed management, labor on-boarding, milk quality, transition period, maximizing return on colostrum, targeted reproduction programs, reproductive evaluation, and replacements.